Columbine should be showing by now, Russian sage takes a little while to wake up.

Karen

If it is was started from seed last year it might still be there. I am in NW ohio and my mature plants started showing a month and a half ago. They get warmed up from 3-5 hours of sun in the evening though and the area you live in might have lower temps. Don't give up on them yet! :) I don't know about all the other plants.

with the difficult year last year I'm pretty sure I've lost a couple of immature plants, they should be showing by now & they aren't. At least the expensive ones all made it. :-)

i am in MI .. and EVERYTHING is weeks if not a month late ...

it is not the plants doing it.. its lack of soil temps.. at root level ...

dig a small 6 inch hole.. its not very warm down there.. so how do you expect a plant to get going.. if its roots are too cold ...

the upside this year... is that nothing sprouted early .. so though we are having frost/freezes .. you are NOT whining about all that damage.. lol ..

i know.. i have the same fever .... but patience rules..

besides.. the cold has keep it raining.. and though that is gloomy as heck.. i am happy for the deep moisture.. that was lacking all last year... see.. there is a couple upsides to every whine ... lol

buck up man... the neighbors are really wondering what the heck you are doing out there.. screaming at your plants ...

ken

Columbines are short lived anyway. They often come back by seeding themselves.

Lots of shrubs and subshrubs that bloom later in the season don't bud out til later and cutting them back may also put them back a little. The roses I cut back hard in the winter are way behind the other ones. But in the end, they al catch up.

Don't feel bad I go out several times a day every spring to stare at the ground. My neighbors are use to it by now. I'm in northern Illinois and russian sage had even thought about waking up yet. Columbine has been up for awhile now. Heliopsis has just begun to show some more than others. Hydrangeas- the oldest showed first some of the newest from last year have started yet. Sedum usually shows quite early. Echinacea I'll never plant again. This time I mean it! Hosta is just beginning to show some more than others. Don't worry about hosta it always comes back. Thats it for me.

My Russian Sage is just starting to show signs of life at the bases on the Little Spires, nothing yet on the bigger ones (two different beds). My columbines have been up for a while now-most of mine are from one plant I bought ages ago that self seeded elsewhere in my garden at my old house. I moved those seedlings to the new place and I think they all came back. I don't deadhead mine so I usually get a volunteer here and there every year.

Most of my perennials are up and growing nicely. I'm surprised as how good most of my plants look this year. We did have a mild winter and that may contribute to how nice things look. That being said, I did lose, or at least they are not showing any sign of being alive, a few plants that I'm surprised about.

One is a Pink Double Delight Echinacea. It was a nice sized plant that was growing and blooming in a large pot during the summer and then planted in the veggie garden - best soil in the yard- for the winter. This spring I had planned on putting it in it's permanent spot. So far, I don't see any sign that it's alive. All of my other Echies are up and growing.

The second surprise demise seems to be an 8 year old perennial Blue Flax. I had moved this plant in 2006 from our old house when we moved here in August of that year. It has thrived and even produced seedlings that I've shared with neighbors and friends. This year there is no sign of the main plant. It did leave two seedlings that are growing a few feet away and that I'm happy to have since the main plant looks like it's not coming back.

I also lost an Icelandic Poppy that bloomed for weeks after planting last spring and then in the heat and drought of last June, it just seem to disappear. I've grown other poppies before, so I thought it may have just been going dormant in the heat. Looks like in this case dormant = dead. There is no sign of it. I do want to replace it since I got so much enjoyment from it last year.

All of these losses are something that I had not expected.

Linda